Thursday, February 18, 2010

After purchasing our customary bag of conversations hearts for this month of love, I began to wonder how much research it would take to come up with a homemade version of these little candy treasures.

I decided to ask internet to help me investigate the possibilities of this task. As usual, Internet came throughand provided me with the perfect recipe and photo tutorial for making these famous treats from scratch.

I helped Hendrix and a little girlfriend of his make these over the Valentines weekend but I think it would make a fun anytime kitchen activity.

To MAKE THESE at HOME you will:

Mix ½ cup of water and 2 tsp of light corn syrup to one packet or 2 tsp of unflavored gelatin until the gelatin is well-distributed. Microwave the mix for 30 seconds to dissolve the gelatin, stir well.

Add gelatin mixture to a mixing bowl along with 1 cup of powdered sugar. Mix ingredients using the paddle attachment (you can also use a handheld mixer). When the sugar is well blended you will add another cup of powdered sugar and mix until well-blended again. Continue this process until you have added 2 lb of powdered sugar. The dough should be stiff at this point.

Next you will knead the sticky dough on a generously-dusted powdered sugar surface. Roll the dough over itself adding powdered sugar as needed to decrease the stickiness.

When the dough is the right consistency, you can add color and flavoring. We separated our dough into 5 balls for 5 different colors and flavors. We added the color first (lightest color first) and then we added the flavoring extracts using what we had on hand; vanilla, coconut, bubblegum, banana, and cinnamon. The flavoring possibilities are endless.

Finally you will roll your dough and cut using small heat shaped cutters. You can make as thick as you like but you may want to roll out a thinner version of the store bought candy if your cutters are large.

You can place cut out candies on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Leave treats uncovered on cookie sheet overnight to dry—NO baking necessary!

Once dried you can add you own special message to each heart using food writing makers which you can find in the baking aisle at most craft stores.If you didn't notice, the ingredients and supply list for this project are the items are in color above. For further details see recipie HERE.
There you have it, your very own conversation hearts!(top image credit: Brittany...my sister!)

Make Monthly is...

a little place to catalog some of the making that takes place in our home each month. We also like to organize with friends every so often to create something magnificent—(with a little socializing sprinkled about). This space will also document and inform readers about these project-play-dates.